Kigali Convention Centre, October 11th, 2017
KIGALI, Rwanda, October 11, 2017/ — Speech of The RT. Hon. Prime Minister, Dr. Edouard Ngirente at the Official Opening of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum.
• Honourable Ministers,
• Chief Executive Officer, RDB
• Chief Executive Officer of Bench Events,
• Distinguished Guests,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning!

On behalf of the Government of Rwanda, I am pleased to preside over, the official opening of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum that is taking place here at the Kigali Convention Centre.
I wish to thank organisers of this Forum for having chosen Rwanda as a venue. I would like to warmly welcome you all to Rwanda. To all of you, especially those who came from near and far, please feel at home. We value your presence a lot.

The Government of Rwanda would like to reiterate its commitment to ensure that this three-day forum becomes a success.
• Excellencies,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
The African Hotel industry is one of the fastest growing sectors with an estimated contribution of 8% to Africa’s GDP and is projected to rise at 4.9% per year until 2025. For Africa, to achieve this growth target, there is a need to put in place strategies that support investments in the tourism sector.

Under the leadership of His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic, Rwanda has made significant progress in the tourism industry. This was mainly achieved through the development of tourism infrastructure, especially through the expansion of RwandAir’s routes; and investments in a number of leading international hotel brands. As a result, more jobs were created, especially for the youth.
• Excellencies,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
This forum has come at a time when African countries are joining effort with various stakeholders to boost the hospitality sector. For Rwanda, it is being organised subsequent to the commitment by the Government of Rwanda to implement its Seven Year Programme, 2017-2024. In this program, we target to double our tourism revenues to USD 800 million by 2024 from USD 404 million.

I therefore urge all participants to this Forum to share experience on good policies; and advise on how well we can grow the tourism sector in Africa and hotel industry in particular.

In this forum, Rwanda is delighted to showcase some exciting new investment opportunities in the growing tourism sector. Officials from Rwanda Development Board are available to discuss further these opportunities.

As I conclude, I wish to assure all investors that investing in Rwanda is profitable. Rwanda is very secure, economically stable and all our laws are business friendly. Our entire legal framework provides a conducive environment for business. The recent 2017/18 Global Competitiveness report that was released by The World Economic Forum put Rwanda on the second position in Africa.

With these remarks, I want to thank, once again, the organisers and participants of the 2017 Africa Hotel Investment Forum for choosing Rwanda as a host. I wish you fruitful deliberations. It is now with pleasure that I declare the 2017 Africa Hotel Investment Forum officially open.

Thank you for your attention.